Charge's lack of height is no worry

A presence on many great defenses is the long-armed big man who blocks and alters shots in the lane.

The Canton Charge maintain that person is not a must. And it looks like they intend to prove it.

The Charge said “so long” to Longar Longar on Thursday. The 6-foot-11 Longar, Canton’s only player taller than 6-9, became the first official cut of training camp. The roster now is at 15, with Canton needing to get to 10 by the middle of next week.

First-year head coach Steve Hetzel is confident in the total team defense to make up for any lack of size at the rim. If they must, said Hetzel, the Charge will front and double an effective post player.

“Our No. 1 priority is to keep the ball out of the paint,” said Hetzel, whose team will scrimmage at Fort Wayne on Saturday night. “If we’re doing our jobs, keeping it out of the paint, you don’t really need a shot blocker.

“There are a lot of ways to protect the paint. We can take a charge. We can use the rule of verticality. We don’t want to just rely on someone to clean up our mistakes.”

Last year, the Charge had 6-10 Micheal Eric and Arinze Onuaku, who played like a 7-footer, in the paint.

Longar’s departure leaves Michael Lee and Alejo Rodriguez at 6-9 as the tallest Charge players. Kevin Jones and Tyrell Biggs stand 6-8, while Shane Edwards and Travis Franklin are at 6-7. Lee, who was in training camp with the Charge’s NBA parent club, the Cleveland Cavaliers, probably is the most athletic player of the frontcourt.

“You know, Miami’s won the (NBA) championship the last two years,” said Hetzel, “and Chris Bosh was the biggest player out there much of the time.”

Of course, it doesn’t appear the Charge have the D-League version of LeBron James. However, Jones isn’t concerned about Canton’s lack of height.

“We have a bunch of tough guys, guys that come from tough programs,” said Jones, who played for Bob Huggins at West Virginia. “I don’t really think size matters that much when guys know how to fight and know what position to be in. We have a lot of older, experienced guys. So I don’t think it’s going to play that big of a factor.

“We have a lot of guys in the 6-6 to 6-8 area, so we have a lot of length and athleticism.”

Keep in mind, the D-League is not teeming with big guys who are true, low-post scorers. Heck, the NBA isn’t teeming with guys who fit that profile. Basketball is a pick-and-roll game nowadays. Many of the best post-up players are guards and wing players.

Offensively, the Charge do not appear to have a strong low-post presence.

“I think all of our bigs’ biggest strength is to pick and pop and space the floor,” Hetzel said. “So right now, we’re playing to their strengths. That doesn’t mean Tyrell, KJ, Shane are not capable post-up bigs. It’s just the progression of our offense has been very equal opportunity, where we want the ball moving and the best shot will find the player, rather than us seeking out a shot.”

Onuaku, an All-Star center with the Charge last year, made the New Orleans Pelicans’ roster out of training camp this season. But the 6-9, 275-pound bruiser was waived earlier this week. The Charge maintain Onuaku’s D-league rights and will gauge his interest on returning to Canton.

The Charge also could get help from the Cavaliers assigning 6-10 Henry Sims to Canton, but that’s not something on which they can rely.